The M17x review by The_Moo
I ordered my laptop with the following specs
P8600 @ 2.4 ghz
4 gigs ddr3 1066mhz
250 gig HD
SINGLE GTX 260m
1900 res LCD
Size
Dimensions (WD) 16.0 x 12.7 inches
Height 2.0-2.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 17.0 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter 12.6 / 14.8 pounds
Ports
Video VGA-out, HDMI, DisplayPort
Audio 5.1 speakers, headphone/microphone jacks, surround sound audio outs. .
Data 5 USB 2.0 (1 USB/eSATA), FireWire, SD card reader
Expansion ExpressCard/54 ExpressCard/54
Networking Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive DVD burner/Blu-ray player
The Screen
The M17x's screen has had almost as much controversy as JFK....
But i have to Say its a great screen, I like it just as much as any other screen i have had...It's colors are amazing , and the Screen to me looks great with no issues...ITS BRIGHT !!!! With that being said the sharpeness in this screen is better then any other laptop screen i have had. The colors are very accurate and games look beautiful. The Edge 2 Edge Panel does add glare but IMO it isn't as bad as people have said. I have used this laptop everywhere and i never notice the glare. So i think the E2E only helps the screen in sharpness and in helping it to be easy to clean
8/10
The Chassis
It is solid..... like rock solid ....
NO squeak ....Everything works great. The touch controls are responsive, the lighting is amazing. The use of Almuminum insteadof cheap shiny black plastic sets it apart from other gaming machines with both quality and design. The laptops use of space and materials helps it feel like a very strong laptop and the Aluminum helps guve it the high end look while protecting it in a way. It feels cold to the touch every time you pick it up kinda like a alien . The touch controls are extremely responsive and well illuminated. It offers Eject, rewind, pause/play, fast forward, volume up/down, wifi on/off stealth mode. On the left of the computer you Num lock , Scroll lock and CAPS lock are all illuminated. The Powerbutton matches the dark chrome Alienhead on the lid. They used a hard plastic for the palm rest and made it textured. IMO its better then a flat glossy plastic so you don't sweat or stick to it.
The whole bottom of the computer is Aluminum except the central compartment which is hard plastic. The Sticks for your Vista licenses and Dell service tag are there as well. The bottom offers easy access to your HD, RAM and CPU fan for easy cleaning. There are GPU vents there as well for easy cleaning
The Anodized Aluminum looks great its a Deep Black and matchs the other parts of the laptops. Now that i have been inside the laptop i can see it is highly reinforced and well built.
9/10
The Touch Pad
Now that i have the touch pad broke in it isn't my least favorite any more. It does have a rough texture to it but i realize after breaking it in that it isn't bad to use at all. The texture helps you finges not stick or slip. The touch pad has no predetermined zones for scrolling. It is illuminated to show the extent if the Touchpad
7/10
The Speakers
They are LOUD and nice. They are just as good as my M17 which had a subwoofer
They have no crackling like other have complained about. I have listend to music on these and they are my favorite speakers I have ever had on a laptop. The illumination isn't as accurate as the Keyboard on some colors.
8/10
Alienfx
I have taken pictures of every alienFX color
easier to download and look
http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahd4...x_pictures_zip
10/10 !!!!!
Battery life
I am getting 3 hours no problem on :
Medium bightness
Powersaver
9400m
1 hours and 45 minutes on
260m GTX
Medium brightness
Powersaver
CPU cooling
Speaks for its self
ORTHOS AND Wprime running running @ 1333 FSB and @3.01 ghz
The cooling in this laptop is amazing they really took time to Thermally desgin this notebook. Each GPU and the CPU all have separate fans and heatsinks helping the laptops overall cooling power. As of right now it does have the BEST cooling system in a laptop. The CPU i have never goes past 60c running @ 1333 FSB and on the 9400m ( on the CPU heatsink) @ 3.01 Ghz. That is pretty impressive to me. The GPU's in this laptop do not go above 70c i don't think ever in gaming which is amazing as well. The temps cane easily be lower by purchasing a Cryo NZXT at Newegg.com, it is the BEST cooler for this laptop and can help drop temps by 12c.
Benchmarks
So far i can only do CPU benchmarks and all of them will be running @ 3.01 GHZ and 1333mhz FSB.
Benchmarks YAY!!!!!
260 ONLY no hybrid SLI
OVERCLOCKED
260 with hybrid SLI
OVERCLOCKED
Overclocked to the following
Whats in
the Box
Cooling and OC'ing are coming ....
Can't wait to see some of your benchmarks!
